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You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/aug/09/woman-dies-police-pursuit-crash-after-drone-over-wandsworth-prison
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| Woman dies after police pursuit as drone is spotted over prison | Woman dies after police pursuit as drone is spotted over prison |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| A woman in her 20s has died in a car crash following a police pursuit by officers investigating a drone that was being flown near a prison. | |
| Police were called to Groom Crescent near Wandsworth prison in south London just after 3am on Tuesday, and began following a car they saw driving away. | Police were called to Groom Crescent near Wandsworth prison in south London just after 3am on Tuesday, and began following a car they saw driving away. |
| At around 3.10am the car crashed in Ashcombe Street at the junction of Wandsworth Bridge Road, and the woman passenger was pronounced dead at the scene. | At around 3.10am the car crashed in Ashcombe Street at the junction of Wandsworth Bridge Road, and the woman passenger was pronounced dead at the scene. |
| The driver, a man also thought to be in his 20s, is in a critical condition in hospital. Police are in the process of telling their families and formal identification has not yet taken place. | |
| The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) is investigating. | |
| An IPCC spokesman said: “The Metropolitan police referred the matter to the IPCC because a police vehicle was following the car involved in the collision immediately prior to the incident. | |
| “IPCC investigators attended the scene and also the post incident procedures where the officers involved are providing their accounts. The investigation is in its early stages.” | |
| Authorities have grown increasingly concerned about the use of drones to smuggle drugs and mobile phones into jails. | Authorities have grown increasingly concerned about the use of drones to smuggle drugs and mobile phones into jails. |
| Figures obtained earlier this year by the Press Association showed that in 2013 no drones were discovered in or around prisons in England and Wales, but in 2014 there were two such incidents, rising to 33 in 2015. | Figures obtained earlier this year by the Press Association showed that in 2013 no drones were discovered in or around prisons in England and Wales, but in 2014 there were two such incidents, rising to 33 in 2015. |
| In May, the BBC obtained CCTV footage from Wandsworth that showed a drone delivering a package containing drugs and mobile phones to a cell window, while an inmate attempted to guide it in using sticks. | |
| Last year the prison’s head of security told the Guardian that some prisoners smash the windows of their cells in order to guide drones carrying contraband in. The report noted that the flights usually take place at night, when fewer guards are on duty. | |
| A Ministry of Justice spokesman had not responded to questions by the time of publication. | |
| Shop-bought toy drones, which can have video equipment and long remote-control ranges, are increasingly affordable with models available on Amazon from a couple of hundred pounds. | |
| Civil Aviation Authority rules state that non-commercial drones can only be operated within the pilot’s line of sight, and that drones with cameras cannot be flown within 50m of people, vehicles or buildings. | |
| But unlike in the US and Ireland, there is no registration scheme for drones yet in the UK, meaning there is often no way of tracing who owns a model if one crashes or is discovered by prison guards. | |
| “There seems to be a fair amount of evidence the devices are being used for more nefarious purposes by criminals and we know the police are taking the issue very seriously,” a Civil Aviation Authority spokesman said. | |
| The Guardian understands that the Department for Transport intends to launch a consultation on the issue later in the year. | |
| The Independent reported yesterday that the number of incidents involving drones reported to the police has quadrupled in the past year. Police investigated claims including drones putting commercial airlines at risk, being used in burglaries and even to spy on PIN codes at a cashpoint. |